The Gender and Election Watch (GEW) Room of the Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF) has called on stakeholders group to uphold the rights of female candidates in the 2023 General elections and condemns all efforts and attempts to truncate the emergence of female candidates in the 2023 general elections.
The group in a press statement signed by Mufiliat Fijabi, the Chief Executive Officer of the GEW also stressed that Nigeria cannot achieve inclusive democracy without female participation.
Commending all female candidates in the 2023 General election for their resilience and participation, GEW lamented the delayed announcement of the results of the Adamawa Gubernatorial Elections especially because it is keenly contested with a female candidate.
The group mentioned that “this is also not encouraging for women who contest for political positions and a negative indication for inclusive democratic practice which Nigeria should aim at.”
The election observation group thereafter condemned the intimidation of observers by security personnel and party agents in some Polling Units across the country.
“The trend of incumbent governors banning NGO observers is a bad practice that should not be encouraged especially when INEC has issued accreditation to NGOs to observe elections and a definitive legal statement by INEC must be issued to stop future reoccurrence,” the group added.